1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new and improved golfing aid for practicing shots at different orientations of the ground and, more particularly, pertains to assisting a golfer to take a stance over a ball to be struck in any of a plurality of angular orientations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of golfing aids of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, golfing aids of known designs and configurations heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of assisting golfers in practicing their swings through known methods and apparatuses are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
The prior art discloses a large number of golfing aids of known designs and configurations. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,996 to Lederer, issued Mar. 31, 1959, discloses a golf practicing machine. U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,875 to Mason et al., issued May 24, 1960, discloses a golf practice device. U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,127 to Kohori, issued Mar. 4, 1975, discloses a golf-shot practicing apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,684 to Benilan, issued Oct. 24, 1989, discloses an orientable platform in particular for training in golf. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,251 to Ashton, issued Oct. 25, 1994, discloses a golf training aid/simulator. Foreign patents EP 0 491 102 A1 to Yan, issue/priority date Dec. 19, 1990, discloses a golf training device and WO 94/01185 to Barrett, issue/priority date Jan. 20, 1994 discloses a golf swing training aid kit.
In this respect, the golfing aid for practicing shots at different orientations of the ground according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of assisting a golfer to take a stance over a ball to be struck in any of a plurality of angular orientations.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved golfing aid for practicing shots at different orientations of the ground which can be used for assisting a golfer to take a stance over a ball to be struck in any of a plurality of angular orientations. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.